BLURRED LINES: GREY ZONE POLITICS IN WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK

Year 2023, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 1 - 23, 31.12.2023

Ömer Özdemir

Abstract

Sitting on the throne of Shakespeare’s plays, Hamlet is undeniably ahead of its time. It presents the readers with historicised records of political endeavours in Denmark, which above all other things meant the world to Hamlet. Without it, he is reduced to shambles. Within the Danish court, he manoeuvres prisoned in a discourse that he created exploiting a religious construction: purgatory. For a thought-provoking construction like purgatory, in which unseen characters with power dwell, new stages are erected. For these, numerous plays are rewritten. Instead of religion as a commodity traded for the sole purpose to maintain the grip on power, contemporary power dynamics make use of new privileged constructions. With a high rate of similarity, currently, there are new Hamlets. Each suggests that the world would be corrupt without them. Unable to resist the rain of disinformation, their followers are purged and fed with new knowledge and truth to join the cause. Taking all these under the spotlight, this study aims to offer an upside-down perspective on power relations in Hamlet suggesting parallels between the historicized world of Denmark and the contemporary landscape of Anglo-American power dynamics. Just as Hamlet manipulated the privileged term of purgatory reinforced by the story of the ghost to further his own agenda within the Danish court, leaders of these countries or the power behind them have also discovered similar methods to sway opinions and control outcomes in their favour. In a world where new Hamlets continue to emerge, readers are prompted to question the intricate tapestry of power relations, its construction, and its impact on individuals and societies within the Anglo-American context.

Keywords

Grey Zone Politics, Anglo-American Policies, Propaganda, Hamlet

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